The Descendants
by LoveToday15
Summary: Bella always thought of herself as part of the Original family- even though she had been turned differently, she'd known them almost her whole life, and they always claimed she was their sister. She never thought she'd see the day Kol died, never thought she would have to deal with dying again. And she never thought she'd have to come back to life- again. T for language
1. Chapter 1

The Descendants:

**Hey guys, just trying this one out. Review if you wanna see more :) Bella was turned with the Original family but without the Tatia's blood—instead Esther used Kol's blood. It'll be explained if I continue.**

* * *

"_What are you hiding?"_

_The man's voice was deep, and pleasant, lilting with an English accent. His blue eyes were cold, staring hard into mine, searching and analysing at every movement I made. _

"_Nothing—I swear." My words jumped out of my throat, torn from my mind by the compulsion in his eyes. I took a deep, shaky breath, fisted my sweaty hands, and attempted to regain my control. _

"_None of that, now." Mikael touched my hair softly. I cringed away from him, turning my head as far as I could. "Resist me all you want, Isabella. I will break you." He stood, taking a step back, and gestured to one of his brainless servants. "Unbind her and bathe her. Bring her back here and make sure she's fed by the time I return at eleven tonight." _

_He thumped on the steel door and stepped back as it was pushed open. _

_I was imprisoned here—but Mikael was not the type of man who favoured dark and dirty dungeons over clean and pristine cells. The chair was plush and clean, and the floors were flawless marble, and the ceiling was dotted with bright light bulbs. The walls were clean—even the one behind me, the one that was made of glass and allowed the full effect of sunlight on my vampire skin. _

_Mikael couldn't tolerate dirt, which was precisely why he had me washed every night and even fed. The... generosity ended right there. _

_After showering under supervision, I stared at myself in the fogged mirror. My features were unfamiliar to me, my bones sticking out, and heavy purple shadows under my eyes. My brown blond hair went down my back, dripping onto the rug. I was clean—which only made my torn neck stand out harshly, bite marks that still trickled blood if I turned the wrong way. They weren't healing—I suspected it was something to do with the toxin he injected me with every night, perhaps a witches concoction—and if he had a witch working with him, I had no chance of escaping. _

"_Miss." A firm voice brought me back to the situation at hand. I changed hastily, a sweater and jeans and socks only. Six more vampire guards escorted me through the strange house and into the cell, each of them grabbing my arms and pushing me down in the seat. There were cuffs that closed over my wrists and ankles, and wooden spikes that stabbed into me if I twisted the wrong way. _

_One of the servants tipped back what looked like a shot of blood down my throat. I swallowed obediently, not about to reject something that made me stronger. _

_It was only as I was about to sleep that the life in the house changed. Breathing stopped all around me. Hearts stopped beating. A yell reverberated through the walls. A yell I recognized. _

_Unintentionally, I lunged in my seat, and recoiled back with a sharp cry at the stabbing pain of the wooden spikes. The brainless servants—two of them tonight—snapped their attention to me, and then opened the door—_

_Big mistake. He came crashing in, seizing the first girl and harshly twisting her heart out. I gasped at the sudden lack of... life. The next boy managed to imitate his brother in killing the second servant. I caught the panic in their eyes and their frantic jolty movements._

"_What are you waiting for?" Klaus demanded, glaring at me. _

"_I can't move, you idiot. The reinforcements—" I didn't dare to move my arms or ankles, because the wood was still stuck in my skin, preventing it from healing. "Get me out of here!" _

_Kol was the one to jump into action and he ripped the bindings with much more ease than I would have been able to. Klaus bent to get the ones at my ankles, and then we were running, slowly at first, then at dizzying speed, outside toward the endless green forest. _

_Unfortunately, I knew it would not be the last time I saw Mikael._

* * *

Terror is one emotion I never understood.

What is it that makes us terrified? How do we lose all rational thoughts in a moment? How can this one simple emotion be the thing that rushes you to your death?

I could understand it in Humans. But in Original vampires? A werewolf Original vampire? That's where things got strange.

"_Where are you_?" Klaus demanded, and again, I could hear the terror in his voice clearer.

"I'm at the airport. I just got back from Prague—"

"_How do you feel_?" He was almost shouting now. I took a deep breath to calm my heart.

"Just tired—what's going on?"

"_You need to get here, right now."_ He prattled out an address I just barely understood and again, yelled at me to hurry. There wasn't much I could do—I hadn't seen Klaus in years, at least twenty of them. Elijah I had seen in the last few months.

Although I knew what happened about Mikael, and Finn, and what happened with Esther, but Elijah had demanded that I stay hidden before Esther decided to kill me off as well.

I didn't bother making sure I looked presentable. If Klaus was so panicked, nothing else could have mattered. Without any luggage, I took my motorbike, weaving through cars in the night traffic.

I managed to get to the address in good time. The house was large, double story, in a suburban street with a thousand memories and lives beaten down into the road and grassy front yards. It was the kind of place I never could have lived in, not without waking up every morning and remembering the life I could have had.

"Klaus?" I called as I knocked on the door. The front door swung on torn hinges. I pushed it open and stepped through. I smelled the smoke and a stronger smell—and the absence of life in the house shocked me, sending me to my knees.

"Bella—"

I fought through the dizziness and shakily got to my feet as I stared at the burned body in front of a dining table. Klaus stood in the living room, his dishevelled appearance shocking me, but not as much as Kol's dead body.

"What—what happened?" I managed to say around my strangled throat. How was this possible?

"Come here." Klaus ignored my question and stared at me strangely. My vision blurred. I walked toward him on numb legs, hearing every sound I made, and the lack of sound he made. He reached up, his hands cupping my face, and tilted me in the light. "He's dead." Klaus took a shaky breath. "And he turned you."

The convulsions started shortly after that. I'm not sure what I expected—I supposed from what Elijah had told me, a quick death, as a normal vampire being staked would die.

Someone was screaming through clenched teeth.

My vision went dark and I was writhing—but something bound my arms to my body. I was being restrained again—in Mikael's white chair. Snakes were crawling over my bare skin, sinking their venom coated teeth in my skin, ignoring my sharp cries.

"Stop—stop it! Get them off!"

A long groan. Heat flashed across my skin, shocking me for a moment. The ceiling was dazzlingly white.

"You're okay." Klaus whispered in my ear, and somehow I was sitting up again, his arms bracing my limp body. I saw Kol's body again and the man who stood in the kitchen, with his arms crossed defensively, but his eyes were wide with horror.

"I'm dying." My voice was hoarse and broken. There was that strange terror in his eyes again. He glanced around frantically.

"No, you're not." He growled now, and stood, bracing me against the couch. He began to pace the floor. "You're not dying. Don't talk!"

* * *

**Caroline's POV**

The screaming was what shocked her.

Caroline had expected to come in, tell Tyler to come home, and leave, or if it was one of his stubborn days, stay with him and ignore Klaus.

The screaming choked off abruptly. Caroline pushed the door open and walked straight through, afraid of what she would find.

Tyler stood stock-still, staring at the living room strangely with horror in his eyes. Caroline stared at Kol's body for a moment, and then followed his gaze.

He was staring at Klaus, who was pacing the room wildly.

"You're not dying." He snapped harshly. "Don't talk!"

He was avoiding looking at the girl on the floor—her back was braced weakly against the sofa. She was tall, and thin, with tanned skin and blond brown hair twisted away from her face. Her green eyes were large and she stared at Klaus pacing the room helplessly. She looked pale, and she was sweating.

"There's nothing I can do." Klaus said, shocked. He almost stumbled before catching himself and giving the girl a flat stare.

The girl took a deep breath. "It's not your—"

She didn't finish. She gasped and her back arched, her eyes widening in pain, and jerked on the floor.

"Bella—" Klaus fell to his knees in front of her and brought the girl to his lap, stroking her hair and whispering things she couldn't hear. Caroline stared open mouthed before moving into action. In a second, she was by the girl's side, and looking at Klaus.

"Is she human?" Caroline demanded—but she had to be. How else would she have gotten in the house without being invited in? "I'll call an ambulance!" She cried, leaping to her feet—but Klaus cut her off, staring up grimly while cradling her.

"She was turned by Kol."

Bella began to scream again, and then she was moaning. "Stop them..." she shook in Klaus's arms. "Please..." She whimpered. Caroline felt guilty—this wasn't what she had approved of when she found out Jeremy had killed Kol, thus killing a thousand other vampires to complete his tattoos. She had stubbornly avoided thinking of the lives that were lost.

Bella's moaning stopped—and then she screamed violently, and there was blood streaming from her chest, a large wound that only a stake could have made.

They watched in horror as blood pooled around her. She stopped screaming abruptly and stilled in Klaus's lap.

"I'm so sorry." Klaus whispered brokenly.

"It's not your fault." She blinked blearily up at him.

"It's more than my fault."

"I don't want to die here." She said hoarsely, her eyes going blank as she stared up at the ceiling. Klaus took a shaky breath.

"Don't do this to me." His hands were shaking. "You can't fucking do this to me!" he snarled.

"You won't be alone." She promised and grasped his hand tightly. "You still have Rebekah, Elijah." She managed to smile.

Klaus bent over her and whispered something in her ear. His fingers hovered over her face, closing her eyes.

"I'm not dead yet." She said weakly, but didn't open her eyes. "I understand. You don't want to see."

"Never."

"Never for me, only." She laughed—and then her throat seized up and she grasped his shirt tightly. She made a strange sound—like gasping for air that wasn't quite there, and moaned hoarsely, opening her eyes only to show them rolling back. Her face was turning blue.

"Klaus—she's not breathing."

"I know!" He growled at Caroline. "She's dying." He sounded like he was choking. Bella was still writhing, moaning deeply, until her moans died off, and she stopped shaking—but Klaus didn't stop. He closed her eyes and buried his face in her neck, jolting as if he was shocked and never saw this coming.

He stayed like that for a while, and everyone was still, as if there was no air left in the room, the only sound coming from Klaus; his ragged breathing.

"Klaus..." Caroline asked tentatively.

His head snapped up and Caroline recoiled at the... fury in his eyes. Animalistic fury.

"Leave us," He snarled. When she didn't move, he bared his teeth. "_Leave_!" He roared.

She stumbled back, eyes wide. And ran out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

"_I killed him."_

_My hands were shaking. My vision was going dark; although the cave we were in was already dark, despite the torches that burned against the walls. Rebekah stood in front of me, frowning like what I said was completely incomprehensible. _

"_That's not possible." She said, frowning. "He's a beast—you can't kill the beasts—"_

"_I killed him!" I snapped. "I held his head and twisted—" I flinched, remembering the loud crack, the light going out of his eyes. _

"_Bella..." She hesitated to believe what I did. And then we heard it—the screams. The chaos that broke outside, women screaming, the humans locking themselves in their homes, terrified at what it could mean for them. Rebekah's eyes widened. "You...? You couldn't have." _

"_I did." I nodded and tears streaked my face. "They'll know. They'll kill me!" _

"_Wait, wait!" She hissed and clapped a hand over my mouth, muffling my sobs. They were going to punish me, and Criss. They'd never let us live! "Why did you kill him?" _

"_He..." I stared to shake again, feeling his rough hands grab me; tear my dress, groping... I sobbed again and this time, she embraced me instead, with a sigh. Then she paused. _

"_Bella..." She gasped, horrified, and turned me around, running her fingers over my torn laces, finally putting the pieces together. _

"_He... touched me." _

"_Hush," She embraced me again, murmuring soothing words in my ear. "I won't tell anyone. It will be our secret."_

* * *

"He deserves it."

Tyler paced the front yard, looking back at the house every five seconds uncertainly.

"He deserves every ounce of pain." Tyler snapped, as if Caroline were objecting; she wasn't. She was staring at the front door hanging open, wondering whether to go inside, wondering if she could face Klaus's pain right now. There were two bodies in the house; two of them, dead, and they mattered a great deal to Klaus. She should be satisfied—she should be glad he was getting a taste of his own medicine. And yet... She would never wish that pain on anyone.

"Why did she die like that?" Caroline heard herself ask.

"I don't know—freak reaction?" Tyler sighed. "Maybe because she was the first one to be turned by him?"

"No... Sage was first turned by Finn and she died as if she were staked. I saw it."

"Why are you so bothered by it?" Tyler asked. Caroline frowned at him.

"What do you mean? She could have been innocent. She was just caught in this whole situation—she didn't do anything bad to us! She didn't deserve to die like that—no one deserves to die like that." She had been having convulsions. She died of suffocation.

But not everything added up. She died because she was turned by Kol, which made her a vampire—but she wasn't invited in. And vampires don't die of suffocation.

Caroline opened her mouth to voice her thoughts—but a darting blond figure crashed into her, sending them both to the ground. The figure—Rebekah, choked out, and lunged forward again blindly. She must have come from the dance—she was dressed for it.

She crashed into the door, reducing it to splinters—and was held by the invisible wall that she had to be invited in to break through.

"What happened? Where is she?" She cried. There was no reply from Klaus—but she must have seen Bella's body—and Kol's; she stumbled back, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the sound of horror she made, and sank to her knees.

Caroline and Tyler shared a look; Tyler's was annoyance, Caroline's was shock.

"No. No," Rebekah continued to shake her head, like she was trying to get rid of the image in her head.

"We should get out of here." Tyler muttered, leaning toward Caroline.

Rebekah stood, whirling on them with a snarl. "You killed her!" She growled, and launched herself at them—but someone else tackled her, sending her to the ground.

"No one killed me."

* * *

When I woke again, Klaus was leaning over me, head bowed and tears were landing on my neck. He jerked back and moved away from me—blood smeared my lips, and I saw it had come from his wrist. He had fed me his blood. Why? How did it work?

"Hello," I murmured. He looked at me like I slapped him and sputtered a laugh.

"Hello?" He laughed harder, and then brought me up, arms going around me and crushing my ribs. "Hello."

I didn't see what was so funny, but he was still laughing, his eyes alight. I hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You. You're crazy."

"Thank you." I hugged him back and he stiffened—I heard Rebekah at that same moment. "Oh, no." Klaus let go of me and I apologized, rushing out the door. I caught her mid-lunge and we crashed onto the porch.

She was snarling. I pinned her down and grinned madly, and slowly, the rage went out of her eyes, and she cried out. I got off her and then she was clinging to me, sobbing in my sweater. I remembered when I had clung to her, sobbing, after I killed a man.

"You were dead!" She sobbed. "I saw you."

"I just passed out." I soothed and smiled—and then stopped. I hadn't died. I had slept—or went unconscious—but I hadn't died. I would have known. But why were they both making such a big deal?

"No, I saw you." She shook her head wildly, pulling away from me. "You were dead. You weren't breathing—you were white as a sheet—"

"I was sick." I rolled my eyes. "I'm Original, I can't die—"

"You looked like a vampire that had gotten staked, I swear it." She said adamantly, locking her eyes with mine. Her mascara had begun to smear. "You were grey, I saw your veins, you were _dead!" _

"I'm not dead." I said through gritted teeth, annoyed now. "I was never dead." I looked toward the hybrid boy and the vampire girl. They both stared with wide eyes. "What is your place here?" I asked them. They seemed to be hovering around, unsure of what to do. The boy partly glared at me—but redirected his gaze when I stared into his eyes coldly.

"We were guarding Klaus." The girl crossed her arms and met my stare. I smiled at her.

"He doesn't need a guard."

It didn't take a genius to know I was telling them both to leave. She looked like she wanted to argue; but I don't think she had a good reason. She turned and left, dragging the Hybrid boy behind her.

The Original siblings explained what had happened to me when we returned to the lounge. The door was broken and a cool draft blew in, thankfully removing the scent of bleach we'd used to clear the blood, and we covered Kol's body with a sheet to wait for Klaus to be unimprisoned before choosing what to do with him.

After getting over their initial shock at seeing me alive and agreeing that although Kol's blood had been used to turn me, I was Original and therefore I couldn't be killed quite so simply, we sat around the lounge.

I remembered Esther as she pounded on my door, waking Criss and insisting that I come with her. I remembered how she brought me into her home and offered me wine with shaking hands, and how Mikael was behind me in a second, and how the cold metal of the sword jarred my heart. I remembered thinking of how wrong I was, to think of these kind people as parents to me, when they had turned around and killed me.

I was wrong. They killed me out of love; to make me stronger. But that didn't make it right, or okay, or even acceptable.

"They want me to go with them to the island." Rebekah said, and I noticed how she avoided looking at Klaus, and how he avoided looking as well. They must be fighting. I almost rolled my eyes at the thought.

I always told them to give it three days after a fight; three days to think about what went wrong and then you can forget about it—but not these two. They never listened to my advice.

"You shouldn't."

I didn't want anyone in the same proximity as Silas—and especially not that save-the-world gang of Mystic Falls; the Salvatores, Elena Petrova, a baby vampire, a Bennet, and an un-sired hybrid. I was annoyed at thinking about them, how everything seemed to split apart for everyone else, but not them. Never them. "They're dangerous and capable of raising him, even without your help."

"It's not her help they want." Klaus said. "She has the tombstone—we don't even know what it's for, and Rebekah here wants the cure."

"Good!" I pointed at her with my spoon, almost flicking ice cream at her. "Guard it. The last thing we need is for it to be used against us."

The room went quiet; Klaus and Rebekah shared a strange look, the first time they looked at each other in the eyes.

"That's not the reason why she wants it." Klaus said, staring at Rebekah, then looking at me. "She wants to be human."

* * *

I was hurt. I shouldn't have been—but I could quite believe how desperate she must be for something that would erase her out of existence so... completely.

"You don't understand." I began gently, shifting and trying to approach this situation in the nicest way possible. "That's not what you'll want. It's might seem like a fantastical notion right now, but you'll never be the same after—not to mention how many people will try to kill you."

"This isn't some passing fancy, Bella." She shook her head and I saw the look in her eyes—the look that said she would die for this Cure, that she would do anything for it. "I want to be human. I want to be certain that my time will come."

I looked away from her.

"That's not what you want." My voice sounded strangled. My entire existence as a vampire, from the moment I had come to accept I would live forever, I'd been grateful. Glad to have a chance like this. What was more beautiful? Than having the choice to live one life and then another, and more for years to come? I was a constant in this world. I had the chance to live fully, to see more than most humans, or even vampires, could ever hope to see. I was more than fortunate.

How could she not want that? Or anyone, for that matter?

"What went wrong?" I didn't realize it was me who spoke until both of them looked at me. But how did we lose so much in this short time? How did we lose Finn and Kol, Esther and even Rebekah, and Elijah's constant presence? Every time I left them, I carried the certainty that I would see them again with me. And now? "I'll go with you to the island then." I decided.

"You shouldn't." Klaus said, but didn't look surprised. He shifted against the couch, getting comfortable. "It's dangerous."

"Are you trying to insult me?" I asked him. He shrugged, a slow grin transforming his face.

"These vampires have surprised us many times. I'm only saying—"

"That I might not be able to handle myself." I finished for him. Again, he shrugged an act that looked foreign on him. "I'll be fine. With two Originals on that island, we should be more than capable of handling ourselves."

"Why are you coming?" Rebekah asked me.

"To try to convince you this Cure isn't worth it." I didn't hesitate in answering. "When are you leaving?"

"Two hours before sunrise. We're going by boat." Rebekah shot me an accepting but sad look that I was going; she knew she couldn't convince me otherwise.

"I'm going to shower and pack some of Elena's things. My nearest place is an hour from here; I wouldn't be able to make it."

Neither said anything as I stood and left, bypassing the wall that witch had used to trap Klaus here with ease. I found the girl's bedroom upstairs; simple, small town girl. After using her shower and using the spare clothes I had in my carry on, I packed more of her things, only the ones that fit me, and had to leave my own boots on. It might seem abrupt to them, my quick decision to travel, but to me it was natural. I was always travelling before, sometimes with a purpose, sometimes for no reason at all.

When I came back down, Klaus told me Rebekah had gone to pack her own clothes and she would meet me here to pick me up. I braided my hair while I waited, getting it out of my face. Klaus kept staring at me until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What?"

"Nothing." He glanced away quickly, cleared his throat, and then looked back at me. When I kept staring and waiting for an explanation, he swallowed. "I thought you were gone."

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I changed the subject. "Why didn't you tell me Kol was going crazy over Silas?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, pursing his lips like he was unsure of how to say it.

"I didn't want you to come here." It made sense; he didn't want me to be put in danger. That didn't mean I accepted it.

"That would be my decision to make." I said calmly. "I would never reject your help if I needed it, Nik. I would expect the same from you."

"It's not that simple." He said, almost harshly, eyes flashing toward me. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and then he stared out the window vacantly. "I need you to do me a favour."

"You know where my limits are."

"Please, convince Rebekah she doesn't need to be human." He took my hand and I realized he still had my dried blood on his own. "Please."

I saw it, in his eyes. He couldn't lose anymore of his family.

"I'll try." I promised. It was all I could give him.

* * *

**Please review; really everyone try to review. Like I know some of you guys follow and fave but don't review—I'm not trying to be too pushy or anything :) PLeaaaase !**


	3. Chapter 3

"_What makes you think I won't win a second time?" _

"_Beginner's luck." Niklaus didn't hesitate in answering. I ran my finger across the tip of the throwing blade. He had no idea I'd been doing this for as long as he was in this town. _

"_If I win," I began, weighting the knives, "you have to draw water from the well for me for the next full moon cycle." _

"_And when I win, you have to—" he stopped and thought for a moment before his eyes landed on my sword by the tree. I knew what he was thinking—he would never say it out loud. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. _

"_You want me to teach you that sword trick I used on Kol last week, the one where I cut off his weapon's belt." _

"_Maybe." He rolled his eyes, embarrassed at asking a girl for sword fighting tips. _

"_Fine." I grinned and exhaled—throwing the knife at the same time._

* * *

My arrival was met with confusion.

"Don't tell me," A voice drawled as I came out of the car with Rebekah. I stared at the small gathering of people, standing under the streetlight. I recognized two faces. "Walking food? Meals on wheels? Or should I say Louboutin's?"

The man had a knowing look in his blue eyes, like he knew this would annoy Rebekah, but she turned to me and laughed like the idea was ridiculous. She was right, too.

I ignored him, staring at the people with my arms crossed. Elena Petrova stood out, but there was definitely a noticeable difference between her and Katherine; the straight hair, the innocent look, the hope in her eyes.

The professor was noticeable too; staring at everyone like he was in charge, but it was the older Salvatore who thought he was in charge. This you could tell by his guarded look as he stared at me like I was a threat.

There was the Bennet witch, who had the same fierce look as Emily Bennet had, Stefan Salvatore, who had thankfully outgrown that horrible hairstyle he'd insisted on in the 20's.

And then there was Jeremy Gilbert. Young, teenage boy, and there was too much innocence in his eyes. Too much, seeing as he had killed so many people. I smiled at him, all teeth and no charm.

"Isabella." Stefan spoke first.

"Stefan." I mocked back, then smiled at him.

"Isabella's coming with us." Rebekah said in a final tone.

"You're Isabella Tyrone." I flinched at the name of my father and faced the professor, carefully keeping the shock off my face.

"Yes." I stared at him, waiting for him to say more. I cut him off before he could start. "When do we leave?"

* * *

We arrived at the island in one piece and by the time the sun came up. Everyone seemed to be waiting for an explanation for why I was here, but I offered none and neither did Rebekah.

"So, did Rebekah compel you to be her bestie?" Damon asked as I watched him sharpen his knife. I'd asked him to go ahead and sharpen mine, but he decided to take his sweet time admiring his weapon.

"Even if she could compel me, she wouldn't."

"Oh? Are you doing the vervain trick?" He squinted up at me. I smiled a little, remembering what Elijah told me about vampires voluntarily ingesting vervain to avoid being compelled.

"No."

"What are you laughing at?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're unnaturally suspicious?" I squinted.

"Anyone ever tell you I was born in Mystic Falls?" He asked. I shrugged.

"So was I. Maybe we should make an exclusive club." He sputtered a laugh, looking over our group like he was imagining the thought. "We could have bi-annual meetings about the woes of our troubles."

"Or we could just have masquerade balls and dinner parties. You know how the citizens love their celebrations." He added.

"Well, then it wouldn't be exclusive anymore."

He looked up at me then, like he was trying to figure me out. Maybe we would have had a bonding moment—if it wasn't for his girlfriend.

The air changed and without thinking about it, I whirled and lunged toward Elena, pinning her under me. She wielded the stake in her hands—the white oak stake. She gaped up at me.

"You can't afford to be petty."

I hated touching her. She gave off too much grief. She carried it for everyone she cared about.

"Get off me!" She was panicking. I stood and let her hold onto the stake. I didn't think I'd be able to handle holding the weapon that killed Kol anyhow. She got up and stared at me. "How old are you?"

"She's two days older than me." Rebekah said, crossing her arms and raising her brow like she was challenging her.

"Impossible," Damon spoke up, walking toward us with my knife in his hand. He offered it to me—then smacked the sharpened blade into my palm, letting it tear the skin and bleed. "Well, she bleeds red."

"As opposed to what?" I held the knife by the hilt now and shook the blood to the ground.

"How are you older than Rebekah?" He deflected my question.

"What is this—confrontation time?" I asked, watching as Elena and Stefan were circling Rebekah and I and Damon stared me dead in the eyes.

"You could call it confession time." Stefan offered. I hummed, and shrugged.

"I was born before Rebekah, obviously." I said.

"So, what? She turned you?"

"I was turned by Kol."

* * *

Silence. They all stared at each other uncertainly. There was a part of me that still loved stunning people into silence—a quality in me from when I was human, that hadn't died from Mikael's sword.

"Impossible." Damon muttered. "How are you still alive?"

"Maybe because I'm an Original." I offered, smiling wryly. It was a thing I had picked up from Criss; tell people the truth with a wry, lazy smile, and no one will know what to believe.

"Well why didn't Esther try to kill you along with all her other children then?" Damon demanded. I shrugged.

"Maybe because it wouldn't work without a human with the Mikaelson bloodline... particularly a doppelganger of Kol's, which isn't exactly possible, now, is it?" I was still smiling lazily. The frustration buzzed in the air. "And then there's also the fact that I'm not Esther's child. Right?"

There was enough confusion on their faces it made them look like they'd watched Inception backwards.

"You know this is what she's trying to do, guys." Shane was walking toward us. "She's trying to confuse you." His eyes scanned the group. "We're leaving."

The next twenty minutes of our hike were spent in silence, while everyone broke off in little groups to talk. Rebekah and I walked around the middle. Eventually, I got too cold and I shrugged off my pack—or Elena's pack, and slipped into a parka. She noticed it was hers immediately.

"Is that mine?" She asked. Everyone glanced back but Shane.

"I'm borrowing it. I visited Klaus earlier and I've left all my things in Prague anyway."

"You went through my things?" I looked at her. There was no heat behind her question, but she seemed irked.

"Well, I thought you wouldn't care much for privacy seeing as you trapped Klaus in your lounge and then I didn't think you'd mind it if I used your things. Do you?"

"No..." She replied. I smiled at her and we continued to walk.

"Having you on this island may actually be good, Isabella." Shane said from the front of the line. "You can sense where Silas is."

There were several things wrong with that statement, but I started with the most obvious. "And what makes you think anything you've heard about me is true, Shane?" I asked. He glanced back at me.

"Then enlighten us, Isabella. Which of the rumours are true?"

"That depends on which rumours you've heard."

There was an irate silence that followed before he started up again. "Can you sense life?"

"Yes."

"Can you sense emotions?"

"Some."

"Is it true that you can't turn any vampires?"

Now, where did he hear that? I glanced at Rebekah. She bumped my shoulder and shook her head once.

"No, it's not true."

"Why wouldn't she be able to turn vampires?" Jeremy spoke up. Shane answered.

"The reason why vampires can turn each other is because of Tatia's genes—the one that allowed her to have doppelgangers and pass on DNA that recurs immaculately; resulting in those doppelgangers. When vampires turn humans, that gene is used to pass on all vampire traits to humans. All vampires have the doppelganger gene."

"Okay..." Jeremy trailed off. "She's a vampire. She should be able to turn people."

"Yes—but she was turned by Kol, who didn't have the recurring doppelganger gene." Shane finished. "But there are some holes in the theory. Despite her being turned by Kol she's not dead; perhaps that means she can turn humans as well, seeing as she defied that part of the vampire physics."

I was surprised—he had it right. I couldn't turn vampires, and according to Rebekah and Klaus, I had died, and I was only brought back to life—barely, because of Klaus's blood. But I needed to give them a reason not to kill me—they think Klaus turned their bloodline because they're sure it wasn't Elijah or Rebekah, but what about me? They have no idea.

"Why can she sense emotions and life?" Damon asked.

"I've had enough of answering questions." I decided out loud. "Maybe I'll answer some more tonight." I swung my pack off my shoulders and reached into it to grab pretzels and a bag of chocolate candies, starving suddenly.

"You must be hungry." Rebekah said sarcastically as I practically ate the bag. I offered her some but she shook her head.

"I haven't eaten in 20 hours. You know I hate airplane food."

"Is it true that you killed you're brother?" Shane called back.

Questions are alright. Suspicion is okay. But combine the two with a dose of something very, very personal to me, and you won't even have the time to realize you've made a mistake.

Unfortunately, I was on an island with six other people who needed this bastard's help. Fortunately, he was human—and very capable of fear—and he was weak. Within the next second I was at the front of the group, pushing him harshly. He tripped down, then went up in a vast net of ropes, crying out in surprise, then pain. He bounced there for a couple of seconds, eyes wide, breathing shallow. I stared at him dead in the eyes.

"Some things don't get talked about, Professor. Ever."

* * *

**Damon's POV**

"Now, Professor..." everything else she was saying was too quiet for anyone else to hear, vampire or not. Isabella leaned in close, smiling slightly and whispering, touching at the ropes that had seized Shane in the air and continued to hold him there.

Bonnie was saying something, and everyone else seemed to be talking too, not understanding that they should probably try to hear what this girl was saying because they had no idea what or who she was, and she wasn't far off from being mute about herself. Damon wanted to whirl around and yell at everyone to shut up, but Isabella was done anyway.

"...Okay? Don't forget that you're human." She stepped back and smiled at him, then dropped her pack and began to climb the tree that held the rope. Brandishing the knife he had just sharpened for her, she cut at the rope and dropped to the ground before he did. When he dropped with a grunt, she cut through the thick rope that still bound him and then offered a hand to help him up. Naturally, he stood without her help.

He also avoided looking at her.

The whole act rose more than a few questions. She was fine answering questions about herself, although guarded, but the moment her brother was mentioned, she lost it and practically attacked him. Then she managed to threaten him with something that was more than just the usual shut-up-or-I'll-kill-you threat, because Damon had used that threat on Shane more than once and barely got a second look.

So what did she hold over him?


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, long draggy kind of chapter because Bella's life story is kind of explained. Please review!**

* * *

"_How did you come here, Isabella?" _

_The room was quiet, lit by candlelight. Esther smiled at me, encouraging me to talk. Rebekah, I could see, exchanged a glance with her younger brother, Kol, who had winked at me suggestively and then choked on his wine when Rebekah told him how old I was._

_The rest of the room, including Mikael, a bored Finn, a brooding Elijah, a silent Niklaus, and an indifferent Henrik, all stared at me, their eyes lingering on my emerald gown, the jewels in my hair and at my neck. _

"_I came from the North," I said to them. "My family wished to come, but my father still had business up at home, although he wished for me to come and set a home for my brother." _

"_He sent you alone?" Esther was surprised. _

"_Yes." I lifted my chin slightly at her. I was more than capable of handling myself. _

"_How independent." The father, Mikael, remarked. He didn't think that was the right word, I knew. He thought of my father as foolish. Who would send their only daughter across the ocean by herself to establish a home in a foreign land?_

"_I'd have thought you would be more from the South." Rebekah spoke, as if she was trying to distract her father. "You have very tanned skin." _

"_I spent a few months in the Arabian Desert." I explained. "Although I am naturally tanned; courtesy of my mother." _

"_What were you doing in the desert?" Elijah was interested now. _

"_I was delivering a message to my teacher's protégée."_

"_And your teacher is from..." Elijah trailed, waiting for me to finish._

"_Cordoba." _

"_Ah." He nodded as if that explained something. I hadn't the slightest idea what. "The flourishing land."_

"_You must see it someday." _

"_One day." Elijah agreed, looking from his Mother and Father in a slightly irritated manner. My guess was, they didn't want him to travel._

"_You've travelled a lot, Isabella." Esther noted. I nodded and smiled._

"_My father encourages travel. That, and independence." And killing. My—well, my master, very much encouraged me to be involved in ending people's lives._

* * *

**Damon POV:**

"I've never seen him so quiet."

Elena was talking about Shane, of course. Damon could only agree. His usual optimistic attitude always made him want to stab him and see if he could be positive about _that—_but he'd been silent for the past hour or so, shooting glares and gritting his teeth in Isabella's direction. Just like a child.

Surprisingly, she wasn't too smug or jovial, either. She still seemed annoyed about the comment he made, and she was stuffing her mouth with candy, like she was trying to avoid snapping at him. She was also conversing quietly with Stefan, and he could barely make them out.

"...I didn't think you'd come back to Mystic Falls." She was saying to him.

"Well, that's the thing about Mystic Falls." Stefan shrugged.

"Did you ask Klaus about me?" She bumped into him sideways. His silence answered for her, and she gasped. Damon turned to look at her. She was staring at the candy bag with wide eyes. "Sour straps!" She exclaimed, and Stefan opened his mouth, shaking his head and stepping back—but she had shoved a wad of them in his mouth before he could protest. His lips puckered instantly. She laughed.

Three beeps stopped her laughter and everyone looked toward Shane. He was pulling out the satellite phone.

"We lost the signal."

"Well, that's the universal symbol for 'We're screwed.'" Bella said dryly. Shane turned and gave her a look. She widened her eyes at him. "Would you stop giving me the evils, Professor? You're not even Italian!"

There was a confused silence. Damon frowned, glancing sideways at her.

"Point?"

"I'm not sure that's legal." She replied seriously. Damon turned so she wouldn't see him smiling.

"This place is creepy." Elena shivered beside him.

"So then leave." Rebekah said. "Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."

"Don't start." Stefan sighed.

"I'm merely stating the facts." She was about to go on, and somehow manage to insult everyone in the group, as usual, but Bella cut her off.

"Remember that time we were in Italy..." Bella went on in whispers and grins. Soon Rebekah was laughing with her.

Shane began to go on about the history of the island, legends and myths about wells and miners and plant life. Everyone else seemed to be hanging onto his every word, but Damon could hear the gaps and holes in the story.

He began prattling on about his wife's beauty, and Damon cut him off.

"Got it," He walked passed him. "Don't eat the poisonous flowers."

Everyone began walking for a while in silence, the only sound was Bella eating her endless supply of candy and Bonnie and Jeremy murmuring in the back.

Until someone tried to shoot Jeremy with an arrow.

* * *

"The bow must have been handmade." Bella was holding one of the arrows in her hands, staring at it. "The arrows have been carved and they're poorly made. Also, if the bow was a professionally made one, Jeremy would have been killed in seconds. The archer must have been an average shot—but the bow would have slowed him down."

"Hm, handy you know that." Damon narrowed his eyes at her. "All this information from looking at an arrow."

She didn't reply, but continued to study it.

"Unless the archer had poor aim and had a powerful arm, maybe the bow was professionally made." She mused.

"Why would he use 'poorly made arrows' then?" Damon asked, seeing the holes in her statement. She looked up at him.

"To fool us into thinking they're poorly equipped."

It made sense, but why would they go to so much trouble just to control what they think? Bella was still staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"We should go back to see the body." Elena was clutching Jeremy's shirt sleeve, shaken at what happened.

It took a while to convince everyone to go back, but Bella was already tearing through the forest. Rebekah caught up with her, not bothering to wait for the humans of the group.

By the time they got to the body, Bella already had a collection of his weapons laid out beside him, and she was patting down his body and pulling more out by the moment; daggers in his boots, a quiver with more of those rickety arrows, short swords sheathed in his sleeves. And the bow.

"Exquisite." Bella murmured, stroking the leather detail. "It's professionally hand crafted." Shane was looking at Bella like she was a bomb about to detonate. "The axe was professionally made also." She dropped the bow in her lap and handed the small axe to Rebekah. "There's someone else on the island, and they're not from around here."

Eventually, they all left, but this time, Bella was practically dragging a whole collection of weapons with her. Considering she was an Original vampire, she shouldn't have needed them.

"Aren't you strong enough to last without these toys?" Damon voiced his thoughts as they walked. She was still clutching the bow.

"Of course I am." She acknowledged. "But I do appreciate fine weaponry."

"What era were you born in?" He muttered rhetorically. Her head snapped up to look at him. She gave him a shocked look, and she walked off without a word, bumping into Rebekah.

They eventually approached a clearing with a rickety cabin and a fire pit.

"What is this place?" Stefan asked.

"According to Ireland lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break. A few weeks later, they were all found dead completely drained of blood."

"We asked what this place is, Sherlock, not the history of it." Bella crossed her arms.

"Well, tragic for them, brilliant for us," Rebekah said. "Who sleeps where?"

"Well that's lovely. There is a mystery man with a hatchet lurking in the woods, and we're just gonna camp." Damon said dryly.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Bella soothed, smiling at him in a fake way. "I'll protect you with my toys." Damon smiled at her in an equally fake way, mocking. She turned back to Shane. "Why don't we just keep going?"

"We're safer here than we are in hiking in the dark."

"The dark will give us an advantage. I'll bring up the rear, Rebekah will go in front. We're the ones who will sense the danger first and attack before anyone can get close enough."

"We'll be more vulnerable if we aren't well rested." Shane brushed her off.

"Fine, I'll go ahead, scope out the trail and double back when it's clear."

"We need the rest." Shane said in a hard voice, adamant and not budging. Bella stared at him flatly.

"Let's just keep going. Get in, get the Cure, and get out." Damon stepped forward, making it sound so simple, but there was still resistance in the professor's eyes. "Where is it?"

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"Stupid enough to raise an immortal witch, so I'd say... incredibly."

"I'm shocked you actually want the Cure considering you've got the most to lose when Elena's human."

Damon was aware of three things; Elena was listening to every word Shane said, Bella just walked off with a roll of her eyes and a mouthful of candy, and Damon wanted to kill Shane, slowly.

* * *

**Bella POV**

"I brought smores." I announced, sitting across from Rebekah and Stefan and smiling sunnily. Rebekah grinned as I tossed her the basics; biscuits, chocolate and marshmallows. We all sat back in comfortable silence for a moment. "I wonder what happened to the horses." I mused, touching at the ground.

"What horses?" Stefan asked.

"What kind?" Rebekah offered me a smore.

"Asian, I think," I took a bite. "I can't tell what happened to them. It must have been harsh."

"You sense life." Stefan stated. I shrugged.

"Somewhat. Not much. I can feel life, but not identity. I can feel how many people have died, but not the details."

"And what of emotions?" Damon and Elena walked around the fire and sat next to me on the log. Elena was stiff around me, and avoided touching me.

"Some." I repeated the same answer I gave before. "It's sudden; violence, anger, it's like the air changes. I feel who it's coming from too." I bumped Elena's shoulder. "That's how I knew when to stop you when you pulled the stake out on Rebekah."

"How is that possible?" Elena asked, looking at me.

"You may as well tell them." Rebekah shrugged at me. "Nik will be bragging about it soon enough."

"I doubt that." I told her. I turned to Damon and Elena. "Esther raised me. I came to the village at a young age, and alone. My master sent me and I eventually befriended Rebekah after the townsfolk lost their suspicion of me. It took months—they were tight, adamant to keep the secret about the werewolves. Eventually, Rebekah told me the reason why we were all locked in the underground caves for three days every moon cycle. Once the secret was out, and I didn't react too shocked, they accepted me."

"Did you know about werewolves?" Elena asked. "Is that why you weren't too shocked?"

"Yes. I travelled a lot—life back then wasn't as limited, even if travel was hard. But people generally kept an open mind about things, and then, I was a witch. It wasn't unbelievable."

"How did you know you were a witch?" Stefan asked. I shrugged.

"My Master. And I wasn't a traditional witch—I didn't seem to inherit it completely. I didn't use spells, or connect with the spirits. I had power that didn't require much work. But Esther sensed it and invited me over for a feast to meet her family and get closer to me.

"We were quite young at that age. I was only just 16, Finn had only just turned 24. Henrik was the youngest at 7. It was several years before we were turned into vampires. Mikael was still suspicious of me—he didn't see how a father could send a daughter half way across the world with no one, and allow her to travel. Women were well valued back then, if they had family."

"You said your master sent you to Mystic Falls." Damon said before I could go on. I nodded.

"I did, because my Master did send me. There was no father. I told Mikael and the family the most of the truth that I could. They were impressed, and interested. I kept coming over, and I became friends with Niklaus and Kol fast, where we all taught each other sparring skills in secret."

"Sparring skills?" Damon repeated. "Women weren't allowed to fight, back then."

"And that's why we sparred in secret." I answered. Not the whole truth. "I became friends with Elijah as well—he enjoyed hearing about my travelling stories.

"Eventually, my Master sent me a little boy named Criss. My brother. Master told me he'd found him and realized we were siblings, but we weren't. Criss was 8, and my parents died exactly 9 years before. It wasn't possible, but I treated him like my brother and he loved me as much."

The air was silent, the pending question in the air; what happened to my brother? Why would Shane think I killed him? I went on.

"The townsfolk grew suspicious again. Not a lot of them, but one man, a werewolf, decided to take it upon himself to spy on me. He broke into my house and found letters to and from my Master, a trunk full of my armour and weapons. And he found three trunks of my gold.

"Girls were frowned upon just for wielding blades. The kind of weaponry I had was a threat to everyone in the village. I couldn't let that information get out. I couldn't fail my Master. So I killed him before he could get the information out."

Elena shivered beside me. Damon stared at me with flat eyes, and Stefan was frowning now.

"You're all shocked that I could kill someone." I stated. Elena turned and looked me dead in the eyes.

"I find it hard to see how vampires can kill people. Humans killing people? I..."

"It's not unheard of." I snapped. "I did these things because I was never taught that it was wrong." I waited for someone to object, or to argue further. I spoke again. "Esther knew I killed. I feigned confusion and fear, telling her that the man broke into my home and tried to attack my brother. She said she would help me—and she did.

"I learned how to use and control my power—over and over again. Years passed and we were all close—Criss was best friends with Henrik, Kol and Niklaus and I were still secretly sparring together in secret, Elijah and I were close as well. Mikael came to accept me. I began to think of Esther as a mother. Rebekah was a sister to me.

"And I began to forget what I was there for. I forgot what I was."

"What were you?" Damon asked. "There for?"

"I was an assassin. And I was there to kill as many wolves as I could, right under their noses."

* * *

**Damon POV**

The air went still. Everyone stared at Bella, who was staring into the fire, flames flickering in her eyes. Damon supposed it made sense. She was lithe, tall, and she moved sometimes with strange fluidity, a way that irked him because he couldn't place it.

"Why?" Elena whispered.

"I don't know." Bella admitted. "My tasks weren't specified with many details. My Master told me, 'kill as many beasts as you can.' And so I got under their defences. I befriended them, became part of their family, and lost sight of my mission. So my Master took it upon his own hands to remind me.

"He sent a werewolf to... rape me." She took a deep breath. Damon felt a jolt of horror rip through him. Her eyes went flat, dead, as she went on. "He raped me and I killed him. I'd never been so terrified, and I had been in many near death situations. But that... was a different kind of fear. I had never screamed in my life—not when my parents were murdered, not when I was trapped underground for a day, not when I was whipped and tortured. But I could have screamed then. I could have screamed until I died, but I was too terrified."

Damon expected her to stand up and walk away, enough with sharing her experiences for the night, but she went on.

"I told Rebekah what happened. It took me a while to realize it was a twisted message from my Master—he was warning me that my defences were down. He didn't know that my defences had been obliterated. But I woke up that night and killed every man I saw in the woods. I tore and slashed the village and no one suspected me. I was angry—that man _broke me. _He had shattered my will to live. I took my revenge.

"My training with Esther helped; I made sure no one suspected me, by influencing anyone's emotions and senses when it came to thinking of me. But the wolves wanted their revenge too—they killed Henrik and they found the perfect excuse to. Niklaus had taken him to watch them become beasts."

"And Esther cared too much about you so she turned you along with her children." Stefan finished. Bella smiled a little, still staring at the fire.

"No." She said gently. "Esther _experimented _on me. She wanted to be sure that there would be no bad side effects when her children became vampires. So she gave me Kol's blood, because he agreed when she told him it was for a protection spell. And then she made me drink it. And Mikael stabbed me. I remember my last thoughts. I'd never felt so betrayed."

Bella took a deep breath. "I woke in her home. She made up some lie about how I'd fainted in her home and had hallucinations—believable, but I was an assassin. I saw blood on the carpet and I could feel the remorse in her gaze. It was enough to convince me that she had to die—she couldn't be trusted. I went home and she continued to watch me, always defensive. When the sunlight burned me, she told me it was a side effect of my power not being used. She came up with little excuses for every anomaly. I had enough in the end.

"I prepared to end her and Mikael the same night she was turning her children—but they had hidden somewhere. The next day, the town was a blood bath. I smelt all the blood and I _craved _it. I killed more people that night than I had in my life—and that was quite a number. Elijah told me what happened and I took Criss and ran back to my Master in Spain.

"My initial plan was to leave Criss with my Master and run, back to Rebekah and her family. But my Master told me that if Criss didn't qualify as an assassin, he would be sold as a slave. I stayed with the guild of Assassins long enough to train Criss. But my Master was still angry at what happened in Mystic Falls, so I earned my way back into his good books by becoming the best assassin. My name was known everyone. I was always challenged and eventually, other assassins got jealous.

"So they killed Criss." Her breath hitched. "They tortured him. He was recognizable only to me. And I couldn't take it. I lost too much.

"I tore the guild down. I killed and tortured and burned houses and buildings until there was nothing but ruins before me, and the assassins scattered. The only people that lived were the innocents."

Bella stared off into the distance, reliving what happened. Even Rebekah was staring at her, despite probably already knowing the story.

"I lived in a world of hate and no one was kind to me without waiting for something in return." She whispered. "I never saw any goodness in the world, because all I knew was terror. I was sold and tortured and whipped and raped. _Everyone in my life failed me. _And I failed the one child I was supposed to protect.

"In the dark you search for light. In the cold you search for warmth. In the monstrosity you search for a Cure. But you don't understand that vampires aren't the monsters. We're not monsters because we can't go in the sunlight, or go days without drinking blood. We're not monsters until we _enjoy _killing. If you keep that part of you controlled, you can be more human than most humans on this earth."

* * *

**Please review :) **


	5. Chapter 5

"_On your feet!" _

_A man barked behind me. I gaped down at the mountain's drop beneath me, teetering on the cliff's edge. I clutched the front of my shirt to my chest, shivering._

"_Now!" The voice roared. I scrambled up, stepping back from the edge—and screamed._

_A line of fire raced down my back, a loud crack that echoed into the ice capped mountains and my scream came back towards me. What happened? How did I get back here?_

_The whip cracked again. I cried out, dropping to my knees, gripping the sharp gray stone so hard my fingers cut. But it was nothing to the pain on my back—dizzying, stomach turning, tears streaming down my face. And the blood. Soaking my back._

"_Up!" He roared and the whip cracked._

_I jerked—_

"_They thought you still lived in the manor."_

_Impossible._

_He was wrong._

"_I want to see him." _

"_No, you don't." Master shook his head sadly, deep eyes staring through me._

_I surged forward, tripping over my feet and righting myself again. There was a blast of sunlight and wind to my face. Cobblestones beneath my feet. Master was following me._

_They must have sent the wrong body. Criss... he was too good for that. I trained him myself._

_Someone yelled at me, the sound struck my silent mind hard, but I ignored it, walking away from the horse rider. _

_Eventually the cobblestones shifted beneath my feet, turning into marble. A gate loomed over me, then opened, two faceless men dragging it and staring holes into me. The sunlight broke apart and I was still walking, my boots that were made for climbing were making strange noises against the polished floor. Blood was rushing to my face, to my eyes, and I didn't care who saw my fangs anymore. There had been a mistake. _

"_Are you sure?" My Master was standing in front of the wooden door. Noises inside the room. I pushed him away._

_There was a bucket on the table, by—_

_A bucket of water. Next to his body. Hands, sponges, cleaning blood... a face no longer recognizable, scars, burns, blood, cuts, wounds—_

_I turned and was sick all over the floor._

_The hands stopped cleaning him. A choked sound. Someone seized the bucket in a craze and threw it against the window—the wood and glass shattered. Me. My hands dropped to my sides. A surprised yelp, one of the nurses. Glass rained down into Criss's hair. The nurse moved, to brush out the glass—_

"_Don't touch him!" I was screaming, touching my lips. I was screaming? I'd never heard that before. I hadn't screamed in ten years. _

_Hands went around me, dragging me—but I turned in a rush, using the monster power I always avoided using, to push my Master away. _

_Someone covered the body. _

_My knees cracked against the floor._

_It was over._

_It was all over._

* * *

"Wake up!"

Rebekah was crouched next to me, grasping my shoulder. She frowned at me as I scooted away from her and reached back to touch my back, staring at my hands when they came away clean.

"It was a dream." Her hand waved in front of my face, pinching my nose, and then shoving chocolate covered liquorice in my open mouth. I choked for a moment before biting into it and taking in my surroundings.

I'd slept by the dying camp fire, and everyone around us was bustling with panic.

"What happened?" I asked when I swallowed. Rebekah's lips curled.

"Your teeth are black."

In response, I grinned a widely, shakily, still shocked by my dream. She seemed to understand and nodded once, absently brushing my hair back.

"Jeremy's gone. No one knows where he went—they're saying he must have been taken."

I rubbed my eyes as I took in the chaos around me.

"Where's Shane?" I stood up, straightening my clothes and picking up my pack beside me to change. Rebekah's eyes scanned our surroundings and then she nodded to where he was standing, a little away from Elena and holding what must have been Jeremy's pack.

I began walking toward him with a strange determination—until Rebekah grabbed onto my hand and stopped me. She caught my eyes and gestured to the cabin.

"You can change in there." She gave me a quick grin, glancing down at my clothes. There were dirt stains creased in my pants and arms—I didn't want to think of how my back looked. In my exhaustion last night, I had passed out on the log, but I must have rolled off at some point.

I only had a long sleeved shirt, a parka and thin trousers left. I threw my hair up into a quick bun as I walked out, lacing my boots up when I reached Rebekah.

Damon was just going back into the cabin with Shane when Rebekah told me we were splitting up to find Jeremy. Elena followed Stefan, Rebekah and I as we headed East. There was a strange air each time Elena or Stefan looked at me—like they were remembering what I had talked to them about last night and couldn't quite process that.

Most of the day passed in a flurry of Elena screaming Jeremy's name, Rebekah talking about how she'd been wronged by them, and Stefan acting as if he was the parent who'd had the misfortune of dealing with the two vampire girls. At one point, he asked me why I was stuffing my face with candy.

"Because I like it." I snapped at him, and then offered him the bag of chocolate covered gummies. He frowned and shook his head as we walked. I wasn't about to tell him that candy calmed me down seriously. I liked keeping up the calm facade.

"I'm going back to Prague after this fiasco; I just bought an apartment there." I told Rebekah. She glanced sideways at me.

"Did you check out Elijah's castle there?" She asked. I nodded.

"It was all under control."

I had made something of a promise to the Original family; I told them I would check on all their properties whenever I was near one, and in return, they didn't push me to come back to them too often. Nik was the only one who enjoyed breaking that rule—in return, I had sold some of his art pieces and used the money to buy things of much more worth. He didn't care often, but when he did, I only got an earful of his yelling before he asked to see where the money had gone.

Usually I checked out Kol's apartments first—unlike his brothers and sister, he didn't favour too much extravagance—but each one of his apartments usually had me laughing until I cried, because they'd be themed in such a strange way that didn't suit him at all. One time, I'd found an apartment of his in Russia that he used to store all of his hookahs. That was particularly interesting, and I had even taken a few of the more intricate designed ones.

"Why did you come back here anyway? It was terribly coincidental that you had just gotten off your flight the moment Nik called you." Rebekah absently chewed on one of the gummies.

"I was coming back to get that rug I'd left at Nik's and a few of the jewels. I'm running low on money."

"That rug is being used in his dining room." She rolled her eyes. "Although I'm quite certain he hasn't touched the jewels."

Great. Trust Nik to use the one thing I travelled across the world for. I wasn't like Rebekah and Nik, and even Elijah, or Kol, with his strange collecting habits; when it came to money, I only used what I needed.

"I was wondering if you wanted to help me decorate the apartment." I said casually. She shrugged.

"I'm never the one who decorates, you know that."

I did know that, but this was me trying to change Rebekah's mind—on more than just decorating.

"I was hoping you would, this time. I'd want to leave your touch on the place." _In case you follow this crazy idea of yours and become a human being._

"I'll see." She said absently, eyes focused straight ahead. She was thinking of Kol, a strange, anguish tinged look in her eyes. I took her hand.

"Remember when Kol had that crush on me?"

I focused on sending her the happy memory. Before I was a vampire, the image would have been easy to put in her mind—now, she would only get a glimpse of the idea, and a comfortable emotion when she thought of him. She laughed, staring at me.

"The poor boy. You had him wrapped around your finger."

It was true. When I first came to Mystic Falls, there were many people curious about the way I looked, and especially the young men, who seemed to think of it as a challenge to get my attention, fighting with their swords ridiculously around the fire at night when they couldn't see, and yelling about how they hunted down dinner for the town. The first few times, I had only smiled and even winked at a few, used to the treatment from my hometown in Spain when my identity as an assassin had been kept as a secret.

When I befriended Rebekah and she took me to her home, Kol had been in his teens, and he thought he was so charming he kept grinning and winking at me until Rebekah elbowed him sharply, and whispered what my age had been in his ear. He had choked on his wine and Rebekah burst into laughter.

Somehow, it only seemed to make him fancy me more, and he had taken to following me around the town and collecting firewood for my home and glaring at anyone who gave me a strange look.

Admittedly, I had strung him along, smiling and looking at him under my lashes when he stared, and then he would just blush and stutter.

He eventually lost interest and became so embarrassed he thought of me that way—especially in the recent years, he would blush again and yell at me to shut up and be ashamed for mentioning those miserable years of his. The first time he said that, Rebekah and I could have laughed until we died.

"How has Elijah be—" the words were barely out of my mouth when Rebekah lunged forward, catching a wooden trap inches from Elena. The sharp wooden ends would have easily pierced her heart and killed her in seconds. She gasped, jumping back, and Stefan took a deep shuddering breath.

"Nice catch." He regained his composure.

"Thank you." Rebekah smiled at him.

"No, actually, thank _you. _This thing would've killed me." Elena breathed in deep.

"I don't care what happens to you either way. But if you're gonna die, it might as well be epic." Rebekah said frankly. Elena shared a look with Stefan, then glanced back at me.

"I'm gonna go back and check on Bonnie, see if she found anything." She began walking back. "Be careful."

It was a long while before any of us spoke again, until the sun was beginning to set and the only thing to be heard was our breathing and footsteps.

"Isn't there some kind of way to sense where Jeremy went?" Stefan asked me. I shrugged, thinking of what I felt when I walked in Jeremy's tent.

"Jeremy was taken." I told him. Stefan frowned, shock washing over his expression for a moment.

"You didn't think to tell anyone this?"

"What good would it have done if they knew he'd gone on a nightly walk or if he was abducted?"

Stefan's arm went to grab mine—I whirled on him and he recoiled in surprise. He regained his composure a moment later.

"This isn't a game to us. This is serious. Jeremy could be dead right now—"

"Jeremy's not dead. It would be too easy to just slit his throat or stab him in the tent and the man who took him wouldn't have had to bother with lugging him around. And then he wouldn't have seven people stalking the island for him. And I know this isn't a game to you all. I just don't necessarily care. Anything that concerns Rebekah and I, I'll mention. As for the rest, don't expect me to be forthcoming with all the news I come across."

"What's the point of you being here if you're not _helping—"_

"I'm helping." I snapped. "I'm helping Rebekah. And I know that's hard for you to understand. You expect everyone to hear your sob story and Elena's sad little life tale and everyone will be tripping over their feet to help. Frankly, I don't see why Elena can't deal with being a vampire. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that she was turned anyhow. And she's not all that special and worth saving just because people care about her."

There was a silence like he was trying to wrap his head around what I just said.

"If the Cure is an option for us..."

I turned away, feeling sick to my stomach. I didn't want to hear about the beauty of being a human.

"If you must know, Jeremy was taken from his tent last night past midnight. The man was violent but not overly—and his intentions were to avoid any harm coming to Jeremy, but past that, his only plan was to deliver him."

"To who?" Stefan demanded.

"Obviously, I don't know. But I suspect Shane, or perhaps someone else on the island. Shane's intent isn't as clear as the rest of yours."

Shane had a special way of hiding his thoughts, in fact. Stefan's self loathing was so loud and miserable I had to stuff my face with candy every five seconds to focus. Rebekah, I had taught a long time ago with Klaus and Elijah how to hide their thoughts and feelings, and Kol a few years later after teasing him and making him beg for it.

"We should go back then." Rebekah spoke. She turned and we followed her back to camp.

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

"_You need to leave now."_

_She was backing away from me with fear in her eyes. I gaped at her, my stomach dropping, my heart speeding. Her hair was coming undone and she was shaking, trembling. _

"_Please. Leave us."_

"_Rebekah?" As if I had to confirm she was here, in front of me. I spent a year tracking her down, and finding her actual location took me three months. Did I look different?_

_I was wearing my fighting gear, what I wore all the time these past years; black trousers—men's, tailored to fit me, and a black blouse that had hidden knives in the sleeves. My cap was in my hands—the one I usually used to conceal my long hair so most thought I was a boy, if my blouse was large enough so people wouldn't notice how obviously I was a woman. _

_But Rebekah wore trousers often enough. Surely that wasn't why she was shocked._

"_What's wrong?" I asked her slowly, trying not to spook her._

"_Get away! Elijah!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, making me flinch. "Nik!"_

"_Rebekah! I'm not going to hurt you!"_

_Elijah came out of nowhere and had me pinned against the wall behind me, sending vases and a painting crashing to the floor. "Do not speak." He said in a hard voice._

"_I'm not a threat, Elijah."_

_Well, I wasn't sure if I was. I had been a witch before I was a vampire, but now... it seemed as if I was both. Static crashed against my head as he touched me, and I caught few words of his thoughts—but they were well guarded. The new ability left white flashing across my vision. _

"_Silence." He commanded. _

_My palms were starting to sweat, my heart kicking up again. I wasn't used to being in this position, the weak one. And yet I could think of more than ten ways to put myself on the offensive position again—all of them without using vampire strength or speed. I hadn't been called the Underworld's Assassin without good reason. _

_But if I made one threatening move, I'd be out of this place within an inch of my life._

_I stayed silent._

_He spoke again, "What are you doing here, Isabella?" He asked quietly. Rebekah was taking deep, shuddering breaths of shock._

"_I told you I would come back. I—you're my family."_

"_And you kill your family, don't you?" Elijah asked, eyes narrowing, head tilted. I saw Criss's body, his hair sprinkled with glass, the only part of him recognizable. Nausea swelled up in me and my head pounded. _

"_No. I don't." I growled it out. "Whatever you've heard isn't true."_

"_We didn't know you were the most notorious assassin until recently. And then we discovered your brother Criss was killed—by you, in fact. What can you say to that?"  
_

"_Criss was killed." I choked out the words. "By people who wanted me off the ranks. By my competitors."_

"_Competitors." Elijah repeated. "Competitors in killing. Do you know how you're sounding to us right now?"_

"_Elijah—"_

"_It all makes sense now." He interrupted. "How you had travelled so much, how you were granted such freedom, your astounding education and knowledge of the world around you, how attuned you were to the details of your environment. How you didn't balk at the idea of killing humans when you were turned into a vampire."_

"_That's how I was raised. I had no choice!"_

"_Why were you sent to our town, Isabella?" _

_Why...? I recalled the reason and realized it how it must have sounded._

"_I couldn't run from my Master." I dodged the question. "He threatened to have me killed several times and beat me whenever I showed the slightest resistance." _

"_What are you saying?" Elijah frowned._

"_I'm saying that I had never spent so long without him to realize how horrible my life was at the guild. Not until I came to our town and realized what it would be like to have a family—a future. I never wanted to hurt any of you—"_

"_Pretty words will get you nowhere now, Isabella. Answer honestly."_

"_I was sent to kill the werewolves. The beasts." I took a deep breath. "But I lost track and I never killed any of them—" _

"_Yes, you did." Elijah interrupted grimly. "You killed one man. His neck had been snapped and no one knew how it happened. But it was you."_

_The man who had torn my dress, and abused me. Yes, I had killed him._

"_That was as a defence. He was—he tried to—" I tried to sputter the words out, but I was no better at saying what the man had did than I was three hundred years ago, to Rebekah when she found me in my torn dress. Now Elijah was looking at me like I was a monster. "I only kill the criminals." I said weakly. And it was true._

"_You killed him, and his people took their revenge on _my family!" _He was shouting, growling at me now, shaking me roughly. I'd never been so terrified, not in a long time. Light flashed, black swirled. His grip was painful. "I never want to see you again, Isabella." He was using his strength, dragging me toward the door. "If you ever come back here, I will find a way to end you."_

"_No—I—you don't understand, listen to me! Rebekah!" But she was turning away, covering her mouth and stifling her sobs. "It wasn't my fault. They didn't kill Henrik because of me! I'll tell you everything. I will tell you the complete truth—"_

_But it was too late. He threw me outside, and I landed hard on the steps, crumpling on the floor for a moment. Stunned. Snow was piling up. The door slammed, glass shuddering._

_Deep inside, something shuddered too. _

_I waited._

* * *

**KlausPOV:**

"So, who was the girl? Was she your girlfriend?"

Klaus only smiled thinly at Tyler, leaning against the back of the couch as Tyler poured himself a drink. Admittedly, Klaus was surprised he was holding his liquor—he seemed the type to wimp out and be sick before finishing the first glass.

"You're much too young to be an alcoholic." Klaus declared, crossing his arms.

Tyler scoffed, for lack of a better comeback—but then he spoke.

"You were pretty hysterical when the girl died in your arms." Tyler noted. Klaus's irritation grew. There were a few things that couldn't be spoken about to him. Isabella was one of them. He recalled what she told him, about hiding your anger and annoyance of something—or people would use it against you.

He kept his mouth shut.

"So, how'd she come back to life?" Tyler went on.

_Shut up._

"I'm surprised someone could matter so much to you." Tyler mused. "Someone who isn't your family."

_She is my family. _He was a moment's away from shouting it.

"Aside from Caroline, of course." Tyler said—and there it was. Chink in the armour. That's what all this questioning was about.

"You wouldn't understand." Klaus shrugged, the way he used to when he was withholding something from Rebekah and Kol when they were young. Judging by Tyler's expression, it drove him crazy, just as it had his younger siblings.

But it was true—Tyler wouldn't understand why Caroline was so full of light. He didn't know how special she was—how rare it was to find someone like that. And Tyler would never understand, not until he lived for a thousand years and met people from all around the world.

Unfortunately for Tyler, that would be never.

"No, I don't understand—I don't understand how a sick bastard like you could _ever _be capable of that kind of emotion."

Ah, these stupid town residents. Elena, Damon, Tyler—they were all the same. They all expected human emotion to be exclusively for the good, for the human side.

"What emotion?" Klaus asked. Tyler took it the wrong way, dropping the glass roughly in the sink.

"Pretend you don't feel anything all you want, but I saw you last night. There's no possible way you could care that much about someone and not feel anything else."

"It's not as if you would know." Klaus said absently. "You think you're invincible because you've escaped me. But you haven't. _I killed your mother. _You're still just as bound to me as you were when I first turned you."

Outrage and anguish flashed across Tyler's face, but Klaus couldn't bring himself to care. Isabella would care. She'd have whacked Klaus so hard he'd see stars for a moment, hissing in his ear, '_loss is still loss.' _He'd heard it often enough. He was kind of glad she wasn't here now.

Although she would be doing a fine job of intimidating Tyler. The brat wasn't being pushed around anymore, which was slightly relieving to see, but he was like a little child again. Give a little man a little power... The Mikaelson siblings used to mock Isabella by calling it out, and she'd growl out a response. But Isabella was different. Give her an inch and she'd take it to the moon. Tyler was; give him a little power and he thought he was on top of the world.

And Isabella had been brought down enough; only the best of people are. Tyler was still new; he didn't understand that being a vampire, he was in for a lot more pain and suffering.

And Klaus was happy to give it to him.

* * *

**IsabellaPOV**

It was worse the next day.

Damon was gone. Bonnie was gone. Shane was gone and Jeremy was likely with them. Another thing we managed to lose was the tombstone.

"We must be pretty careless for losing all these people," I mused as I changed in the cabin. Rebekah was on the other side, zipping up her coat and sorting our things.

"I would say it's them who're careless." Rebekah declared as I turned around and tossed my hair into a messy bun. "They don't have their suspicions aimed at the right people. Always trusting the wrong ones."

I think it would be bad to mention that Rebekah is doing the same thing, but at least she knows it.

We walked back toward the beach in the cold. Elena was on the phone when we got there, with Caroline, one of her friends who was conveniently at the Gilbert's home and guarding Klaus.

And they wanted the Hunter's sword.

"Caroline's the only one who can get it from him." Stefan claimed.

"He will never give it up—not even for Caroline." Rebekah said, determinedly.

I thought about it as they debated. Klaus would have left it in his home—and it would be easy enough for someone to find it, because he wasn't there. I doubted it would bring us any closer to the Cure—the sword was meant to kill as many vampires as there was, not to lead to the Cure. And then if I at least found the Cure, I'd be able to withhold it from Rebekah and Klaus.

"May I talk to Caroline?" I asked Elena. She paused, then handed the phone to me wordlessly. It was a big clunky thing that sat uncomfortably in my hand. "Hello, Caroline." I spoke.

"_Who is this?"_

"I'm Isabella—may I talk to Klaus?"

"_Um—yeah, sure." _ She must have thrown the phone to him, because there was a w_hoosh _and a thud as he caught it and spoke.

"_Isabella."_

I turned away from the group a little and spoke fast.

"Klaus. We've lost Damon, the witch and the Hunter, and of course the Professor of Evasiveness. The only way for us to get closer to the Cure is to find them—and to find them, we're going to need a lead of some sort. Damon was most likely taken, Bonnie probably lured by some other witch on the island and the Hunter was kidnapped. I know that there are three more people on the island aside from us, which makes eleven people searching for this Cure. Any help you could provide would be much appreciated."

"_No need to beg, Isabella."_

"Klaus." I growled. He laughed.

"_Alright. I'll see what I can do. I'll provide the sword to Caroline and you can manage to entertain their futile struggle in finding the Cure."_

"Thank you." I sighed out. "Now let me talk to Caroline."

He didn't protest, and I heard him call out her name and throw the phone back to her. She was uncertain as she spoke.

"_Yes?"_

"Caroline, don't be so certain you can better Klaus by possessing the sword. Even when it's in your hands, you won't be able to gain anything from it."

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"It means you shouldn't put your hopes too high." I shut the phone and handed it back to Elena. "Klaus will tell Caroline where to find the sword, but there's not much she'll be able to do with it."

"Why not?" Rebekah demanded.

"Because the sword's inscription is in Aramaic." I told her. "Klaus will have to read and translate it before she can understand it."

"Just grand." Rebekah gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes. She was getting grumpy—the same way she used to when she was starving and snapping at everyone.

I wondered if she thought she'd be just as innocent when—if, she became human again. Did she think she'd turn back to her young and naive self? Or did she know that being turned into a human was ultimately more damaging than becoming a vampire?

Watching her clench and unclench her fists, eyes darting about like the Cure might pop into existence, I decided no. She had no idea.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

"_Five minutes. That's all I'll give you." _

_I had been hesitant when Nik pushed me away from the front door at 2 in the morning and gestured to the far road that led into the woods—but I knew he wasn't a threat to me, and if he became one, I could stop him. Assuming he still had the same skills from when I taught him; disabling him would be too easy. _

_Not that I wanted to. I just didn't know what to expect from the Mikaelson's anymore._

"_I didn't kill Criss."_

"_There's no way for me to know that." My heart dropped. There was nothing for me to do—I stopped in my walk and stared at him. He turned back to look at me. "My family are afraid of the possibility that you hurt him. Kol found out a few weeks ago and we haven't seen him since."_

_I stayed silent._

"_They don't understand that it was my fault Henrik was killed—it would have happened even if you didn't kill that man."_

"_They wanted revenge." I disagreed. "They hated that one of their own was killed by one of us—a human, the lesser of the species that lived in that place. It was a threat to their power."_

"_That might have influenced it." He acquiesced. "But ultimately, Henrik's life was placed in my hands that night, and it was my fault he was killed." He paused. "With that being said, now you can take Henrik's death off your shoulders. My family never want to see you again—and they agree that this is generous of them to allow you to live your life... but I disagree. We only have each other, and I hope we can all come to forgive... you."_

_Niklaus Mikaelson. Always playing with fire; always swinging blindly into places he knew nothing of._

"_You want them to forgive me so you can see if there is still hope that they will forgive you." I stated. "You want to test them."_

_He wanted to see if they would ever forgive him for killing their mother. _

_Nik's eyes darkened, like he hadn't anticipated me knowing what he did; but of course I did. There was not much that went on that night I wasn't aware of. _

"_Don't make this about you, Niklaus."_

"_It's not all about me. You have nothing left." I almost flinched at the truth of his words. "You had a family before you were an assassin."_

_It was true, and I wondered how he knew that. I had a family almost as big as his—siblings older than me by years, and I was the youngest, always lectured, always yelled at and laughed at, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I had lived in a castle—and then... the castle was empty. The laughter echoed off the walls. I could feel their memories scratched into the stone floor, and see the marks of their deaths in our home. Blood, ruins. _

"_And so you threw yourself into danger, until your Master found you trying to steal from him and decided you'd be the perfect little assassin. Female, daring, defiant. He gave you a chance at a new life."_

_I wondered how he knew that too. _

"_And then you had a new task, one that you didn't understand, but you accepted, like all your other tasks. You travelled across the world to kill as many beasts as possible—and you were told they were the vilest of creatures. But then you met a family just like yours had been. Loud children, inside jests, a fierce bond between them all. You wanted to be part of that again._

"_And Criss came and everything was perfect; until you were raped."_

_This time I did flinch—and shiver, and turn away, itching my arms. Rebekah told him. _

"_And you finally did the one thing you travelled for. You killed."_

"_You clearly know enough of what happened—" He interrupted me._

"_But you see, Bella, I don't."_

"_Don't call me that." I gritted out. He went on._

"_I don't know what happened to you between the time my mother turned you into a vampire and the time you disappeared with Criss. All I know is that a village in Spain—where you were raised and taught as an assassin—was ruined. A mass murder. Only the civilians lived to tell about a monster who killed everyone who dared to speak of Criss's name. They spoke of streets that ran with blood and raging fires that burned everything away to ash and dust. Do you see why my family is hesitant to forgive you?"_

"_You did the same things to our village." My voice was weak. _

"_All vampires have their fair share of bloodletting when they're first turned. You seemed to have had a little more. You murdered the entire Underworld of Spain."_

"_They deserved it!" I shoved him hard, and he stumbled back. "Stop—just stop it." He was slamming me with words, and the worst part was everything he was saying was true. "If you can't forgive me, your family never will."_

"_I'm not saying I will never forgive you, Bella—" _

"_Don't—" _

"_Right, Isabella." He rolled his eyes. "But you can't give up. My family is all you have left. You can't walk away."_

"_Why did you say all of those things then? Why make me think it's impossible for them to forgive me?"_

_He looked as old as the world itself when he spoke, a strange wisdom in his eyes._

"_So you can accept the truth. No one else will if you won't."_

* * *

"_What are you doing here, Isabella?" _

_Mikael stood in front of me, oozing old world grace, and holding himself in a way that demanded respect. _

_Too bad I was fresh out respect._

"_I live here." I crossed my arms and stared at him defiantly, narrowing my eyes at him. _

_I hoped he wouldn't see my tremble. I hoped he didn't see the way my eyes itched to dart back to the manor, to send a silent warning to the Mikaelson brothers and sisters. _

"_I was aware that it was Niklaus who lived here. With my daughter and Elijah." _

"_Hm." I stared at him silently, trying to seem level headed and calm. Like he was far from the truth and I didn't care. "Well, your family has claimed they never want to see me again. So I don't know what led you here."_

"_Well," He mocked, "I had a witch perform a spell to tell me the location of Niklaus, and it led me here." _

"_A witch's location spell won't work anymore on him, because he's no longer a human. Anything he owned back then is useless to magic now." _

_He was wearing simple worker's clothes—more polished than most, but not by much. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a moonstone—my moonstone, the one I'd gifted to Esther one time for teaching me how to make bread from scratch. She didn't understand the value of it back then—that if she went to the right places and had it inlaid in jewellery amongst other gems, she could have bought herself a trained horse. _

"_I used this for the location spell. It led me here. Niklaus had it in his possession before he left our hometown." Mikael stared at me steadily, testing for any reaction._

"_I gave that stone to Esther as a gift. It was originally mine. Niklaus must have taken it."_

"_Why would he take it?" Mikael asked me. I pushed my lips out, pretending to contemplate._

"_Perhaps because the value of that stone could be enough to own a village with, or several Arabian horses."_

"_Girl, this rock won't buy me a bowl of soup." Mikael denied. "I've tried."_

"_That might be because you're not making the right offers, or going to the right places." I paused. "Or maybe because you don't know what type of gem that is." _

_Mikael narrowed his eyes, and I sensed his anger in the air, just like I was able to when I was human and a witch._

"_You would know, wouldn't you? While we were fighting for our survival and hunting throughout the day to find enough to eat, you were in Spain wearing jewels and gems and wondering what to do with your trunks of gold. Gold you earned from killing people."_

"_Well, at least I earned it all." I kept my expression pleasant. I could see where his anger stemmed from; I had come to his hometown, befriended his family, and made myself look like a humble girl who knew what it was like to suffer for food—but in reality, I had no idea, not like he had. My whole life, I'd been given the privilege of food and a place to sleep, and more often than not, at least one trunk of gold as savings. Unfortunately, if Mikael expected me to be embarrassed that I had it easier in life than he had, he was going to be disappointed. _

"_Where is Niklaus?" Mikael demanded now. _

"_I told you they don't want to see me. I wouldn't know." We stayed staring at each other for a few more seconds. Eventually, Mikael pocketed the moonstone and turned to leave. "Mikael." I called before he could get too far. "I'd like my moonstone back."_

_Mikael turned back to me with an expression of disbelief._

"_Now why would I give you—"_

"_Now." I interrupted, and took a few steps toward him. I concentrated on my power—on the spirits, but a harsh backlash echoed in my mind when I tried, and my vision spun for a moment. I tried harder. "Now!"_

_The moonstone was in his hand again, and he was staring at it like he was unsure how it got there. His hand moved forward. I stepped toward him again—_

_And there was only a rush of cold air as I realized he'd run away. _

"_Hey, it's Caroline. We have the translation of the tattoo. We're emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now."_

* * *

"Thank you, Caroline." I nodded at Rebekah, who was staring expectantly at me as I held the phone to my ear. I pulled the phone away to glance at the incoming messages. "We have them. I'm impressed. How did you translate so quickly?"

"_Well, it was me who helped." _

"Nik?"

"_Hallo, love. You did teach me the language. You shouldn't be too impressed."_

Even I'd had trouble studying Aramaic. I'd learned it faster than Nik and Elijah—but it was incredibly slow for my rate. I was used to learning new languages in two months, tops. Aramaic had taken me up to at least 5 months to learn.

"You must have improved." I said, and I hoped I could keep the jealousy out of my voice. Evidently, I couldn't, as he laughed.

"_I'll go over it later with you."_

Good. Nik was used to allowing me to know more than him, but Elijah would never have it. But both boys knew that if either of them withheld knowledge from me, there would be consequences. I wasn't used to knowing less than others. It sounded arrogant, but the last time anyone knew more than me about something I r_eally _wanted to know, was when I was human—even before I became an assassin, when my older brother would tease me with little bits of knowledge.

"Okay. Anything else?"

"_Just one thing, Isabella." _The sudden serious in his voice made me nervous. His next words were in Aramaic. _"There's only one dose of the Cure. Make sure Rebekah gets it above anyone else—and only tell her. Stay with her at all times, I don't want her doing anything foolish."_

"What wonderful news." I exhaled sharply. "I'll talk to you later." I hung up and handed the phone to Rebekah, who stared at me wide eyed, waiting for me to tell her what Nik said. I looked back at Elena and Rebekah sitting on a rock at the beach and decided against saying it out loud. "Follow me."

I turned and ran through the woods, so fast that wind screamed in my ears, protesting at the imbalance of the speed. Rebekah followed, barely, until we reached the cabin.

"What is it?" She demanded, breathless and fixing her clothes, annoyed at using these clothes to run in. I rolled my eyes and spoke in a whisper.

"The sword says there's only one dose of the Cure."

"What?"

Her face fell. She was disappointed. Good. Maybe this would get her off that crazy fantasy—but no, I can see that stupid hope in her eyes still. She really believed she could get this Cure. That she had an equal chance.

Well. If there was one person getting the Cure, it was Rebekah. There was no possible way I'd allow _anyone _else to get it.

"Maybe it's for a good reason." I suggested tentatively.

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "I will get that Cure."

"Okay." I nodded. "Then we need Silas, and the witch—and that Hunter. Stefan and Elena are slowing us down. We don't need to bother with them."

Impulsively, she threw her arms around me, embracing me tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered. I realized how much she'd been waiting for my approval. "Thank you so much."

"Bekah." I sighed. She pulled away from me with tears in her eyes. I stared at her for a moment, wondering what to say to bring her down a notch—but not too much. There was nothing to say, I realized. "We should leave."

We spent the next hour trekking through the woods, occasionally, I switched directions, subtly, but enough for Rebekah to notice.

"Where are we going?" She asked me, more often than Kol had when I showed him the underground of Ireland. Of course, back then, we'd been under several feet of rock and it was surrounding us, so he had a right to be slightly claustrophobic.

Not that that had stopped me from laughing at him.

A pang of longing settles in me. I still wasn't used to thinking of him in a way that meant I'd never see him again.

"I'm tracking Damon. My guess is, whoever's taken him will be leading him to Silas."

"You can _track _Damon?" She demanded. I shrugged.

"I can track images and feelings, and it's easier when it's from people I know and understand. Damon's been restless, annoyed, and immensely irritated. Bonnie and the hunter will only be terrified and nervous—something that's not easy to track, considering many people before us have felt that in this place."

"But how do you know it's _Damon?" _She pushed. I turned to look back at her for a moment. She was strangely defensive. She'd cared for him, at a time. Not surprisingly. Rebekah had cared for everyone at a time.

"Damon has a distinct way of thinking. He's particularly pessimistic and very altruistic. He also happens to be a realist—a very strange combination. It's easy to track."

"Altruistic?" Rebekah scoffed. "You should see him on his bad days, Isa."

"I suspect these are some of his worst days." I grinned at her, feeling lightened by the use of my old nickname. She beamed back at me. "Anyhow, the man he's with is getting harder for me to read, almost as if he's _blocking _me. Which is strange, considering you'd need a witch on your side to do that."

"Someone knows you're here." Rebekah mused.

"Someone who knows me." And there were very few people who knew the true abilities of my powers—which meant very few people who knew how to stop me from being able to track them. "We need to go faster."

"We can run?" Rebekah suggested.

"No, we need the energy. We don't know what we might have to face."

The next few minutes we walked in silence, and I tried to be as silent as possible, but Rebekah wasn't used to walking through the forest in stealth, and her steps alerted every living thing we came near. Most people wouldn't pick up on it, at least I was hoping, so I wasn't too worried.

Of course, like most times in my life, it turns out I should have been.

* * *

"Turns out I do know the man." I told Rebekah, whispering because we were a few feet from the cave. And there were people inside.

Damon, I knew instantly. The teenage witch, the Hunter, and Professor Idiot had arrived a while ago—and there was Galen Vaughn, who was leaning toward my bad side, who I only recognized because of his voice, his deep and Irish drawl.

"What? Do we go inside or wait out here and go over your happy memories?" Rebekah demanded. I rolled my eyes. She was getting jumpy.

"Come on,"

Rebekah was all for making an entrance, and she loomed in the entrance before making room for me to enter. Both men

were looking at us, Damon looking slightly annoyed and Galen—looking downright shocked.

"Isabella?" I eyed the gun in his hands. It was more of a toy, one that would kill a vampire but not an Original. He couldn't wait to use it. "Fancy seein' you here, Isabella."

"Fancy." I mocked in his accent. A mix of amusement and annoyance came across from him. And then exasperation as I pulled an arrow out of the quiver strapped to my back, and held the bow out that he only seemed to just notice. Even Rebekah seemed surprised. "Move, an' I'll stick an arroo' in yer throat." I still mocked his Irish accent. It usually threw him off guard.

"Well, your accent's improved," He said, slightly shrugging.

"Thanks to you laddie." I shot him a sunny smile. I released the arrow as easily as taking a breath, and he snarled, gun swinging out of the way as the arrow shot past his bicep, scratching the skin deeply. Rebekah moved next, rushing forward and snatching the gun from his hands.

I forced his skull to hit the cave wall, just enough force behind the action to make him disoriented but not unconscious. He groaned, slumping forward. I braced him against the wall.

"Now, before you go on about your divine destiny to kill Silas, the big bad monster of the world who is literally not a threat to anyone right now, there are a few questions of mine that need to be answered."

"Go ahead and ask me darlin'." He slurred.

"How did you know I was going to be on this island." I didn't make it sound like a question. I still couldn't quite sense him, and it was unnerving, but not unfamiliar. Klaus had long ago made sure a witch on his side stopped me from sensing what he thought and felt. Rebekah hadn't cared, and neither had Kol. Finn never quite understood so he ignored it, and Elijah had done the same as his brother and used a witch.

"A little bird told me."

"A little _dead _bird, one you'll be joining unless you talk."

"Aye, you know her. That's all I can say."

"Talk, Vaughn. Or Audrey will join your little dead bird."

There was a flash of uncertainty in his eyes. I stayed staring at him. My hand tightened around his throat.

"Katherine Pierce." The name croaked out of him. In a fit of annoyance, I let go of him, and his body slumped to the ground.

"Is she here? Tell me now!"

"I don't know," He groaned and coughed. "But she knows what you are, and she wants you dead."

**Please Review guys :) **


	8. Chapter 8

"That's impossible," I said flatly. I had compelled Katherine to forget me. And then I compelled her to stop being so full of herself, although that part I hadn't thought would be too possible. Evidently, it probably wasn't. "I compelled her to forget me."

"She's been taking vervain for years, the brat," Rebekah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Why was this never mentioned to me?" I demanded.

"We didn't know you knew her," Rebekah shrugged.

"I know everyone!" I burst out, and then took a deep breath. How many times had they hidden things from me and let me find out the hard way? Sometimes the Original siblings really pissed me off. "Okay. Fine, we'll have to find her. She wants the Cure, and so do you. Will you let her leave with it?"

"No," Rebekah growled and her fangs slid out in that rush of possessiveness.

"Then go get it."

I didn't have to tell her twice. In a rush she'd jumped down the hole in the floor, not bothering with rope.

"Not a chance," I whirled to face Damon as he spoke the words. He was standing now and glaring at me. "No one else is getting that Cure."

"I'm not stopping you," I shrugged. He frowned, glare diminishing.

"As if you can," he scoffed. Then he turned and he was only half way to the gaping opening when a wooden arrow soared through the air and buried itself into his skull. He fell to the floor with a solid thud.

"I don't like to be challenged," I snapped at his unconscious form. Slumped against the floor, and throaty laugh escaped Galen.

"Don't we all know it."

* * *

Rebekah walked out with empty hands an hour or so later. So did Elena, and Stefan, and eventually, Damon, when I had taken pity on him and removed the arrow. He'd woken a snarling, furious mess, and immediately sank his teeth into a drowsy Galen when he found out Galen wasn't on vervain. Evidently, islands didn't grow enough vervain.

Except none of them had the Cure. The only thing they'd returned with was the Hunter's very dead body. Jeremy was dead, and a sliver of satisfaction entered my heart when I realized Elena could finally feel the same pain she had put us all through.

I was a thorough believer in the eye-for-an-eye thing.

Rebekah didn't share the sentiment. She shot a look of sympathy towards her, then the moment of humanity left her and she was angry again.

"She got away," she snarled at me as Damon, Stefan and Elena prepared to leave the island. "Katherine. That bitch!"

"This is better," I assured her in near whisper. She sent me an incredulous look, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'll track Katherine and we'll get the Cure when no one can. Katherine will keep it safe. This just gives us more time,"

Slowly, her tears went away, and her stare was filled with clarity.

"Okay," She took a deep breath. "We need to get out. I'll grab our things."

"Katherine might still be on the island. I would have sensed her leaving—"

"Well, maybe your powers aren't flawless, Isabella. You managed to miss a lot of other things," Rebekah turned away and stomped off to the cabin. I took a breath to calm myself. Rebekah was a little immature at times—especially when she didn't get what she wanted.

I turned to look at the Mystic gang. Damon was nodding his head, looking slightly dejected as Stefan spoke to him. Elena was busy making sure the Hunter's dead body was comfortable—as if the boy cared still. I bet his ghost was looking over us right now.

Eventually, Stefan climbed into the boat, turned to face me, and hesitantly rose a hand in a way of saying goodbye. Elena and Damon's eyes slid toward me, and then they were off, Damon still on the island, leaving us with one more boat.

He walked over to us. There was still blood matted in his hair.

"You're coming in our boat?"

"I'm finding Bonnie," he snapped and turned back into the woods toward the cave.

"She left the cave already," I pointed out. He ignored me and walked off. I also wanted to point out that we could take the boat and leave him on the island with the oldest vampire in the history of time, a witch that practised Expression, and a homicidal vampire hunter set on paving his way to his destiny and fate, but I decided to let him realize that the hard way.

When Rebekah returned, she apologized without looking at me in the eye, and then suggested that we should probably look for Katherine before leaving at least.

"We should leave," I decided. "Katherine's kept me out of tracking her for days—when we get back, I'll have leads, people… it would be easier."

Rebekah still looked hesitant. "She might give away the Cure…"

"She's not going to take the Cure. We're the people who are after it—she can't give it to anyone else without getting caught. Chances are she's using it as a bargaining chip for something."

"Fine. There's only one boat,"

"I don't really care at this point. They can find their own way back."

* * *

Rebekah took me back to Klaus's home, and shook her head with a grimace when I asked her to come in with me.

"You talked to him fine when I was at the Gilbert's," I pointed out as I leaned over, looking at her through the window from outside the car. She ran her hands over the steering wheel.

"That was different, Isa. I just want to go home for now and rest. Okay?"

"You're brother and sister and you live in two different houses and neither of you have any other family aside from Elijah who would never settle anywhere anyhow. I don't see what's complicated about it. Why don't you just stay in this monster of a place?" I gestured to the mansion behind me. She looked away, down at the gears of the car.

"It's different now, Isa. Klaus says he did everything for family, but it was all about what _he _wanted. I don't want to be controlled by him."

"You're letting him off easy. If you ignore him, he'll forget about you. But if he has to face you every day, he'll always regret what he did."

"Klaus doesn't know the _meaning _of regret," Rebekah snapped harshly. "I have to go. I'll call you in a bit."

She drove off, and I stood in the middle of the round driveway, staring.

Klaus opened the door in a rush when I knocked, and gestured me inside, eyes darkening as he caught sight of Rebekah's stolen car leaving the driveway. When I was seated at the couch in front of the fireplace, he stared expectantly, waiting for me to tell him what had happened.

I talked, mostly for the rest of the night. I didn't hear from Rebekah.

* * *

It took Klaus and I three days and fourteen hours to find out where Katherine had gotten her information.

I didn't get to enjoy the clear sleep I got in a solid bed, or the breakfast that wasn't half dehydrated. Klaus was busy demanding that I 'put those three years of working with the CIA to good use' and find a good lead on the evasive vampire. She'd been running for a while—her tracks were completely covered—everyone who'd practically seen her was compelled.

"This never would have happened if you just killed her in '67," I snapped at Klaus as he scrolled through his computer. He glared back at me, and then downed his bitter coffee.

"Right back at you in the '20s. Didn't you say you saw her at Gloria's?"

"I was saving her for you, obviously." I rolled my eyes.

"Mikael was hunting us down there. I wasn't about to go back to find her, even if you wanted me to walk to my death."

"I never said—"

"You said you didn't care if I lived. Or died, if I recall," he put his feet up on the coffee table, aiming for nonchalance, but his eyes were too serious as he stared at me.

"You know I was lying," I said tiredly, rubbing my eyes. He raised his eyebrows. "Fine. I wasn't entirely lying. But you'd be lying too if you said you never wished I was dead over the years."

He smirked and went back to looking at his laptop.

I remembered the pure rage that had shot through me that night when he daggered Rebekah, the one sibling I'd always believed he'd never touch. How I barely stopped myself from killing him. I'd known it was safer to keep them all daggered, but Rebekah was with me. We were with Klaus and Elijah. It was always supposed to be us four.

It was some time near the sunset that I finally found a lead—Katherine had found a werewolf girl who'd been Klaus's hybrid's friend. The girl, Hayley, told Katherine we were looking for the Cure and Katherine decided nothing could go on in Mystic Falls without it being her business, so she joined our hunt.

Not that she was welcome, anywhere—ever. But the bitch had a habit of showing up where no one ever expected her to.

I had offered to go and get the Hayley girl myself, but Klaus was adamant to find her his way.

Klaus had a different way of torture that I did; Klaus smiled while he threatened you, subtly masking all his warnings. I smiled while I turned people's minds inside out, making them sick with worry about what I was going to do to them, or to the less selfish ones, to their loved ones. Some people would bend over backwards to protect those they cared about.

Some people didn't care.

I wanted to get out of this choked town. Coming from Prague made it hard to be here, a place of history and culture, to a place where there seemed to be a funeral every day and there was a constant plague of grief infecting everyone.

So I left Klaus's mansion to head to the Salvatore Boarding house, where Rebekah told me to meet her.

"What did my brother say?" Rebekah asked when she saw me, slipping her arm in my elbow and steering me toward the drinks, through crowds of people dancing.

Elena Gilbert decided to have a party. Apparently, her humanity had been switched off when she discovered her Hunter brother wasn't coming back to life. The last few days had been exciting for them.

Rebekah managed to tell me that Elena was actually sired to Damon.

In a way, it cleared up a lot of things for me—like why they'd been so desperate to get the Cure in the first place. When I laughed, Rebekah glared and told me I was being insensitive.

"Why should I bother caring? It would never happen to me,"

"It would be nice to have a little empathy,"

I frowned at her as she spoke. She was really taking this human thing seriously.

"Rebekah, I'm not being a snob—but I'm not above laughing at people, okay? No one is. Not even these humans—in fact, most of them are barely human themselves."

"You have this all wrong, Isabella," Rebekah narrowed her eyes at the humans as we leaned against the staircase. She acted like she knew more—it pissed me off.

"Oh, please. Explain how you know more than me, Rebekah, about the depths of human life," I stared at her with wide, mocking eyes. There was a faintly hurt look in her eyes, but then it flashed away.

"Humans are only human—they're incapable of being monsters the way we are. They feel for other people whether they want to or not—because they will always care, because there is no 'humanity switch' for them. There's no other option. We don't know what it's like to care anymore."

"Rebekah, we're all humans, okay? We all function and breathe and eat and think like normal people do. No human is alike, and no vampire is alike, get it? You've stuck all these humans together on the idea that they're all empathetic, feeling, caring… but most of them—no, a majority of them—are all bitter, all negative, all thinking about how much they want to run away from their lives and how much they hate what they're going through. No one cares about anyone else—humanity is all about self-preservation."

"Haven't you seen them? They love each other, they care about each other, and they're all selfless — look at the lengths Elena goes to for her brother—"

"Self-preservation," I snapped, interrupting, "Elena can't live without her brother. It's not about him—he's resting, he doesn't have to care about anything anymore—he's at peace. But she wants to bring him back to suffer and live with her, because she can't stand the thought of no family." I shook my head, and she stared, eyes wide.

I went on, "And these people you say who love each other? The only reason they care is because they don't want to be alone—they'll bend over backwards to please anyone just so they won't be alone. You've seen what Klaus did—even you, right now, deluded by the idea that the Cure will take away the loneliness you feel. You want a news flash? It won't! Because loneliness comes with being alive or undead, vampire, witch, human, werewolf—everything, just existing! The faster you see that, the faster you can stop this ridiculous, helpless mission."

She blinked, shocked like I'd just slapped her. I guess it was a little harsh, and depressing, but she needed a wake-up call. I missed the old Rebekah, who took everything in stride, did what she wanted when she wanted, and was mostly just there with me, always available when we were bored with our lives and wanting to start over. Human Rebekah was scary—I could see it possible, and I could see that it would end badly. She'd only be more depressed, only she wouldn't have immortality to hold onto then—she'd have nothing as a human.

"Are you reading me right now?" She demanded, blinking thoroughly. For a second, I was only confused.

"I'm not using my powers right now," I said honestly, but as I said it her thoughts seemed to flood me and all I felt was her sadness, loss of hope and her betrayal. I blinked in surprise, then softened my look to her. "I'm sorry. It was harsh—it's not that depressing. It's just that you have more hope as a vampire. You can be even more human than some of the humans in this room."

"I thought humanity was self-preservation," She said bitterly.

"Well, it is in my books," I put an arm around her. "But we can pretend I'm talking about your brand of humanity now, just for the party."

She laughed incredulously and tipped her drink back.

* * *

**Hey guys, sorry for the big speeches haha, anyway I've uploaded a new story called Year of the Witch which is a crossover between Twilight and TVD, and it's about Isabella being a powerful witch who's helping take down a city of witches with Klaus because they want to end all vampires… I've been updating it a lot and it's been really fast paced so check it out, **

**Please Review this chap thanks :) :)**


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